Gloucester and Mathews High School basketball teams, boys’ and girls’ varsities and junior varsities, met this week with the Dukes prevailing in three out of four contests, and the Blue Devils giving them a good run.

Hosting the varsities Saturday night, the Mathews girls won and the boys came up just short.

The Lady Devils got off to a slow start in a very aggressive, physical battle with the Gloucester Dukes. MHS led by a score of only 8-6 at the half. However, Mathews came out strong in the second half, played outstanding defense, and outscored the Dukes 26-14 to walk away with the win.

A standing-room-only crowd packed the MHS gym on Saturday for the varsity boys’ matchup. The battle went down to the wire, with the Group 5A Dukes finally prevailing 53-45.

The Devils jumped out to a quick start in Saturday’s game, going up 9-1 and electrifying the home crowd. The teams traded blows throughout the half with the Dukes coming out with a halftime lead, up by ...